Killing Time Before Work.

TGIF. Long shifts tonight & tomorrow & then I get two days off. Going to see "The Drowsy Chaperone" with the fam on sunday, pretty excited about that.

I need to get on a better sleeping schedule.  It's so hard with work though.  I get out anywhere between 10:30 & midnight, & when I get home I'm exhausted but it's like I've still got all this nervous energy to get rid of, so I stay awake until like 4am...which means I sleep until like noon.  I hate that.  I need to start trying to wake up at like 8am so I can get used to getting up early for school.  I think that's going to be one of the hardest things, learning to be a morning person.  Ha.  I've been thinking about starting a blog for when I'm at school that's public...but I barely write in this one, so idk.  A few people have suggested it but we'll see...

I'm drinking a Cherry Coke Zero.  It's okay...there's just nothing like a good old regular Coke.  The Cherry is better than Coke Zero though I suppose.

This has been kind of a rambling blog.  Actually, I suppose they all are.  Sorry my life isn't more interesting, hahaha.

Why Can't Life Just Be Easy For A Second?

I haven't made a regular update post in a long time. Not that there is much to update. I'm stressing over alot of things right now...it's all starting to build up & it's kind of overwhelming.

Last week I discovered that someone made a $25 purchase at some online gaming company with my bank card. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that this is the second time this has happened. So I immediately canceled the card & went to the bank the next day to take care of it. Then a couple of days ago, I got a notice in the mail saying that they were unable to recover that $25 because they had proof that I had authorized the purchase. I would like to know how I authorized the purchase, because I have never ordered anything from a gaming company. So now I get to fight with my bank to get my money back.

On top of that, I was asked last night to do photos for two weddings & an engagement last night, which could easily be an extra $300 in my pocket. But, out of nowhere, my Photoshop program has decided that my "30-day trial" has expired. I've had the program for nearly 3 years. It tells me to enter my serial number to activate it online, & when I try & do that it tells me my computer doesn't have internet connection. So if I can't work that out, I won't be able to do those three shoots this summer.

And that's the least of my computer's issues right now. I have 2 anti-virus programs on my computer. One scanned for viruses & found 157 trojans. But it removed them & there was no problem...for a minute. Then my OTHER anti-virus program scanned & found several more, but each time it gets to a certain point in the scanning process, it shuts down everything & the blue screen of death appears. So even though I've already gotten rid of several of the viruses & my computer is running faster, I know there are still some on here that are causing other internal problems. Which is incredibly frustrating.

THEN, there's school. I'm so excited, but so stressed at the same time. I need to save $2,700 to pay my rent for the entire year up front, & then whatever extra I earn will go towards other living expenses while I'm out there. The goal is to not have to have a job while I'm in school. We'll see how that goes. I'm trying hard to just save money up until then, & I hope I can make enough. It's been kind of slow going at both restaurants lately, so I'm probably going to have to pick up two more shifts at Chili's to compensate...which I am NOT looking forward to.

I have so much going on right now that I need to deal with...but I'd rather not. Just thinking about it while writing this makes me just want to cry.

Living Light School Of Worship.

So, this weekend my parents & I drove the 12 hours to Kenosha, Wisconsin to check out Living Light Christian Church & the School of Worship. All I can say is, WOW.

We got there saturday evening & met my friend Heidi (who goes to church there, but not the school) for dinner. She told us some basic stuff about the school & gave us a little more info about the church.

Church started at 9:30 on sunday morning, & everyone was soooo welcoming, telling us what to expect ("the music here is a little, uh, JUMPY..."), introducing themselves, asking where we were from. It was a small building, & maybe a congregation of 150-200, but I have never felt more welcome at a church I have never been to before. The music was definitely enough to wake you up in the morning! The worship was a little more...ACTIVE than what we're used to, but it was so cool to see how different people worship & praise God, & it was definitely more up my alley than anything I've seen here so far. The sermon was given by an elder of a sister church from Michigan, & he did a really great job & gave some great analogies to really drive his point home. Afterwards I went to lunch with Heidi & we got a good chance to talk church, music, jobs, & everything in between.

Sunday night I got to meet up with 7 of the students that are doing the school this year (there are only 12 total), & it was really incredible to get some questions answered, hear their experiences, & see how close they are. It really helped to talk with them & they were also very welcoming & encouraging.

Monday morning I got to school at 8am (can you believe I actually got up early?!)...I got to meet Kal, the director & sit in on the morning worship & a couple of Bible classes. Then Kal pulled me aside & I got to talk with him about the specifics of the program, & my parents talked with one of the elders/school teachers about the church & doctrine. All of us felt really good about the church & the school Biblically. We had a break for lunch & then Kal pulled out his bass & had me play along for a sort of "audition." He said not to worry, that I'm definitely good enough musically to attend the school, so that was a huge relief. He also talked with me about the musical side of the school & explained that each student gets private lessons with a qualified instructor every week...one of the "qualified instructors" being Lori Peters (Skillet's former drummer)! Which would pretty much be amazing.

Overall though, the school definitely seems like it would be an incredible experience both spiritually & musically...I need to pray some more about it, but after talking with people from the church & my parents, I feel pretty confident that I will be going there in the fall. Pray for me though for guidance in this big decision, & that everything will work out as God wants it to!

All Aloney, On My Owny.

Isaac left on monday. I'm sad. I'm so ready for him to just move here. And to get married. Because honestly, I don't see marriage changing my life THAT much, except that he would live here, & we would live together.

I've been drumming alot lately. It's amazing how much fun I have. Today I played "Never Alone" by BarlowGirl over & over & over & over until my arms were numb. I did a video of it...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoFQdkkQtmM...it's okay. I plan to make a better one once I learn the song better, & also because I messed up the end. Bad. Haha. But it's not too bad, I think, considering I started learning it a few days ago & I've done all of it by ear.

Speaking of drumming, I just found out that England has a "School of Rock"...sort of like the movie! No, just kidding. No, idk. ANYWAY, I guess they've been trying to get approved to work with that school to get one over here in the States, & this semester we are officially getting our own School of Rock...at the University of Central Oklahoma! How perfect is that. I am by no means good enough to go there this year, but I think if I practice really hard & keep taking lessons I will be good enough to go there in the fall of 2010. I still really want to go to SOW in Wisconsin though, but the best part of UCO is that there's an OSU campus 20 mins away where Isaac could take fire science courses. So I'm at a crossroads, because UCO is close by & would teach me some great drum technique, & SOW is far away in Wisconsin, but it would teach me drumming AND how to develop my relationship with God. So we will see. I'm going to pray about it. I have a whole year.

Nothing much else going on...picked up a shift at work last night & I made $40 in tips, plus my hourly, which is REALLY good for ToGo on a slow tuesday night, lemme tell ya. And Shannon's dad came in & ordered food, & left me a really good tip & it made me happy. I just love him, he's so funny. Today I was off, & I took my Mom out to eat for her birthday (which is tomorrow, but I have to work), & then my sister came home & we went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory where I ate entirely too much. Blah. Tonight I am going to IHOP with Cristen, where I will NOT eat anything...maybe a salad, but nothing else. I need to quit being a fatty.

I guess that's all for now...btw, was anyone else pissed at the finale of The Bachelor? I mean, what was up with that?!